Census 2023: Which area added the most new homes?

The population in Auckland did not grow as fast as in some regions - but it had the fastest growth in dwellings of any city.

Between the 2018 and 2023 Census, the total population grew by 6.3 per cent to 4,993,923 people.

And the new Census also outlined the growth in dwellings - meaning homes, motels, and camping grounds.

The regions with the fastest growing dwelling counts were Auckland (11.9 per cent), Tasman (11 per cent) and Canterbury (10.1 per cent).

Slowest were Gisborne (4.4 per cent) and Southland (4.6 per cent).

At a more local level, by district, Selwyn in central Canterbury had the fastest increase in dwelling numbers, up 29.4 per cent from the previous census.

Selwyn stretches from the coast just south of Christchurch, through towns including Rolleston, up to the Southern Alps.

Further south, the number of dwellings in the Queenstown-Lakes district grew by 26.1 per cent.

In Auckland, the fastest-growing local board area was Upper Harbour, where dwellings increased 27.2 per cent.

The area in northwest Auckland includes Whenuapai, Herald Island and Hobsonville.

Dwellings in the Papakura local board area in South Auckland grew 27 per cent.

Dwelling numbers do not always align with total population growth.

The population grew in every region.

The growth rate for Auckland was 5.4 per cent, but it grew almost twice as fast in the Tasman region in the top of the South Island.

The slowest regional population growth was in Southland at 2.7 per cent, then Wellington at 2.8 per cent.

All dwellings up 9 per cent

The total dwelling count in the latest Census increased by 9 per cent to 2,056,578.

That was 170, 061 more dwellings than the roughly 1.89 million recorded in the previous Census in 2018.

Other recent statistics releases also outlined how the ways we live have been changing.

In March, New Zealand had a record number of residential rental properties.

That was revealed when data from Tenancy Services showed a big upswing in the number of active rental bonds deposited.

By November 1 last year, bonds were lodged on 410,904 residential rental properties: townhouses, apartments, flats, units and stand-alone homes.

That was up 38 per cent from 2010 when just 297,624 bonds were lodged.

Last month, the state was helping 364,000 tenants and mortgage holders who could not afford where they lived.

Stats NZ said the estimated number of rented dwellings in the December 2023 quarter was 663,700, according to the dwelling and household estimates, which were published on January 11.

The 258,000 tenants receiving the rental accommodation supplement amounted to 39 per cent of the 663,700 dwellings rented in New Zealand.

Home ownership peaked in the 1990s at 73.8 per cent of households, but by 2018, home ownership had fallen to 64.5 per cent of households.

The rates fell in all regions since 1991, with the largest falls in the Auckland region.